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NEW FEATURE - **Please Read ** -- BLOGs Are Now Available

We have opened the BLOGS section of Progressive Ears.

A few guidelines:
- Any member of PE can post a blog.
- Blogs are NOT for promotion of bands, festivals, CDs, concerts, or samples. We created a forum for that.
- Comments have been allowed, but the idea is not to use comments to turn a blog post into a thread, Be judicious with your comments.
- There will be no capability to convert a blog into a thread, or a thread into a blog.
- Politics and religion are not permitted - and blog content is subject to the same considerations as the rest of the forum - as described by the terms of service.
- Blogs will be moderated.

A blog (abbreviation of “weblog”) is a discrete post, typically well thought out and composed, and can be thought of as a mini article.

Where are the blogs?

See the navigation bar – the list of menu items toward the top left-hand-side of every page?

Click on “Blogs”.

What’s the difference between a blog and an Article?

PE’s “articles” will be used for formal articles, interviews, and – particularly – album and DVD reviews.

What’s the difference between a blog and the rest of the forum

Forum

Blog

Forums are like social mixers

Blogs are like a keynote speech

Discussions, interactive by nature, inviting input from others

Personal, a declaration, or descriptive, or self-expression. Post-and-forget. Retained for a longer-term.

Accumulates group input and collaboration

Personal accounts, news, reflection

Oftem more unfocused - many people contributing user-generated topics (a wider variety of content) with differing viewpoints. Components of the discussion can go in many directions in the course of a thread.

More focused as blogs are written and edited by a single author. Replies are directed to the primary author.

Creates a discussion on a particular topic by allowing commenting of posts

Posting or the content is the main purpose, not the commenting

Asks for definitions, explanations or opinions - invites input.

Provides the author's definition, explanation or opinion - without inviting further input.

Long threads of short posts

Longer post, maybe a few short comments

Why blogs? Isn’t this just too much? The site is confusing enough as it it…

I expect some negative comments, and have no interest in reading them. If you don’t like blogs, don’t read them. But give them a chance – over time, you just might find some value in that section. Discussion closed.

It seems to me, reading the description of the difference between a blog and a forum discussion, that many people open a discussion thread the way you are envisaging a blog. I see no harm in this, and for me personally I think having a separate "Blog" category is unnecessary. "Keep it simple", I suggest.